Dominant defense propels Eagles into Super Bowl Cronin: From miracle to misery: Keenum, Vikings routed in Philadelphia News: Eagles fans take to streets to celebrate Super Bowl berth Video: After the Titans took a lead in the first quarter, it was all Patriots thereafter.

Leonard Fournette finished with rushing yards and three touchdowns. Steelers were boom-or-bust on fourth down in divisional loss to Jaguars News: Calais Campbell randomly suggested a score in interview last week News: Jaguars troll Steelers for looking ahead to Patriots Terrell: Roethlisberger looking forward to playing next season NFC divisional round.

Nick Foles completed 77 percent of his passes, and the Eagles defense had a stellar performance which including stopping the Falcons on a fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line to seal the game.

Shazier was not penalized for the hit, much to the dismay of the home crowd. Hill then got the ball into the end zone with consecutive carries, the second a 1-yard touchdown run that made the score 15—7.

The Steelers, now led by Landry Jones , started off their next drive well, as Jordan Todman rushed for a yard gain on the second play.

Later on, he converted a 3rd-and-9 with an yard completion to tight end Tyler Eifert , and eventually the Bengals got close enough for Mike Nugent to kick a yard field goal, making the score 15—10 with 5: McCarron soon faced a 4th-and-2 situation, but converted with a 9-yard completion to Marvin Jones.

Then when faced with 3rd-and-7, he launched a yard touchdown pass to Green. After their two-point conversion failed, the Bengals held a 16—15 lead with 1: He celebrated by running all the way through the tunnel.

Now with the ball on his own yard line with 1: On the next play, with just 22 seconds left, Roethlisberger threw a pass intended for Brown.

On the next play, Boswell kicked a yard field goal with 18 seconds left to win the game. McCarron completed 23 of 41 passes for yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

Hill rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown, while also catching three passes for 27 yards. Green caught five passes for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Burfict had six tackles, a sack, an interception, and a forced fumble.

This marked another round of playoff futility for the Bengals, who lost their fifth playoff game in a row after starting the season 8—0 and finishing with a franchise record tying 12—4 record, despite losing starting quarterback Andy Dalton to a broken thumb injury in week After the game, Dalton stated that "This locker room should feel a lot different right now.

Sportswriter Mike Freeman called this game "one of the dirtiest and ugliest contests in the modern era of the sport". I would say no catch.

On their first possession Seattle went three-and-out, but punter Jon Ryan bobbled a low snap and was unable to get off a punt, giving Minnesota possession at the Seattle yard line.

The Vikings drove to the 4-yard line but had to settle for a Walsh field goal to open the scoring. Rather than attempt a field goal, Russell Wilson threw a pass to Fred Jackson who was tackled short of a first down after a 7-yard gain.

Neither team could score for the rest of the half, and Minnesota went to halftime leading 3—0. Both teams combined for total yards in the half, the lowest in a playoff game since On the first possession of the second half Seattle drove into Minnesota territory and again went for it on fourth down, only for Wilson to be intercepted by Trae Waynes.

Minnesota was then helped by a penalty for Cliff Avril roughing the passer, and Walsh kicked a yard field goal to give them a 6—0 lead.

Seattle went three-and-out on their next drive, and Minnesota began their drive in Seahawks territory after a horse collar tackle on the punt return.

They settled for another Walsh field goal, this time from yards out, to take a 9—0 lead into the fourth quarter. Two plays later Wilson threw a touchdown to Doug Baldwin , cutting the deficit to 9—7.

Steven Hauschka converted on a yard field goal to put Seattle ahead 10—9 with 8: Both teams punted on their next two drives, and Minnesota took possession with 1: With a yard pass interference call on Chancellor and a yard pass from Teddy Bridgewater to Kyle Rudolph , Minnesota advanced to the Seattle 9-yard line with 26 seconds remaining.

Walsh, however, kicked the yard field goal wide left, allowing Seattle to kneel out the clock and preserve the victory. Bridgewater finished as the leading passer with yards, while Wilson recorded yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Seattle became just the fifth team to win a playoff game despite scoring ten or fewer points, and the first since Green Bay erased an early 11—0 deficit by scoring on five consecutive possessions on the way to a 35—18 victory over the Redskins.

A few plays later, Preston Smith sacked Aaron Rodgers in the end zone for a safety, giving Washington a 2—0 lead. On the ensuing drive the Redskins drove to the Green Bay 1-yard line with a yard pass from Kirk Cousins to DeSean Jackson that was initially ruled a touchdown but reversed upon review.

The Packers defense held the Redskins to a yard Dustin Hopkins field goal, and Washington led 5—0 at the end of the first quarter. Green Bay, however, responded by scoring 17 points by the end of the half.

First, a yard completion from Rodgers to James Jones set up a yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb. Washington had to punt on their next drive, and Micah Hyde returned the ball 17 yards to the Packers yard line.

Cousins later completed a yard pass to Reed before finishing the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, regaining the lead at 18— In what turned out to be a critical play, Eddie Lacy picked up the first down with an yard run.

Lacy added a yard run on the next play, and James Starks finished the drive with a 4-yard rushing touchdown, giving the Packers a 24—18 lead.

Washington was unable to score again as Cousins was sacked twice on fourth down plays, once by linebacker Nick Perry and once by Neal.

Rodgers finished the game with yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Cousins recorded yards with a touchdown.

Reed was the top receiver with nine receptions for yards, becoming the first Redskins tight end with receiving yards in a playoff game.

Playing in an NFL record-tying 30th postseason game, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady completed 28 of 42 passes for yards and two touchdowns, without being sacked or throwing any interceptions, and also rushing for a score as he led the team to their fifth consecutive AFC championship game.

New England scored on their opening drive, moving the ball 80 yards in 11 plays. But it did not stop New England from driving 98 yards in 11 plays on a drive where they faced only two third downs.

The key play of the drive was a yard completion from Brady to receiver Keshawn Martin. Knile Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards, then Charcandrick West subsequently rushed for a yard gain and Smith completed a yard pass to Jason Avant ; the team drove to a yard Santos field goal that made the score 14—6 at halftime.

Kansas City struck right back, converting two third downs and one fourth down on an yard drive featuring a yard reception by Avant.

Smith finished the drive with a yard touchdown pass to Albert Wilson , cutting their deficit to 21—13 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Kansas City responded with a drive to the New England yard line, but ended up turning the ball over on downs. Following a punt Kansas City got the ball back with 6: They proceeded to drive 80 yards in 16 plays for a score, including a yard catch by Avant on 4th-and-8 and a yard reception by Wilson.

West finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run that made the score 27—20, with 1: Kansas City attempted an onside kick, but failed to recover it.

Edelman was the top receiver of the game with 10 receptions for yards. Smith completed 29 of a career-high 50 pass attempts for yards and a touchdown.

West was the leading rusher of the game with 61 yards and a touchdown, adding two receptions for 15 yards. This gave Palmer his first career playoff win at age 36, after 13 seasons in the NFL.

This drive had two big plays nullified by penalties; one of which was a yard one-handed catch by Randall Cobb that was wiped out by offsetting penalties on both teams.

Later on, Rodgers threw a pass that Peterson intercepted and returned yards for a touchdown, but this was eliminated by an illegal use of hands penalty on defensive lineman Frostee Rucker.

Following an Arizona punt, the Packers went on another long scoring drive, this one covering 71 yards in 17 plays and taking 7: A few plays later, Palmer also threw an interception, which was taken in by safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.

On the second play after the turnover, Eddie Lacy gained 14 yards. Then he stormed through the line for a yard run to the Arizona 8-yard line.

Rodgers eventually finished the drive with an 8-yard pass to Janis, giving Green Bay their first lead at 13—7. Following a Packers punt, Arizona drove to the Green Bay yard line, but on the second play of the fourth quarter, cornerback Damarious Randall intercepted a pass from Palmer in the end zone.

After Green Bay punted, Arizona got the ball on their own yard line with Palmer completed a yard pass to John Brown on the second play of the drive, and later completed a yarder to Fitzgerald.

On the next play after that, Palmer threw a pass that bounced out of the hands of defensive back Sam Shields. After an incomplete pass, Palmer threw a pass to Johnson, who just barely managed to backpedal across the first down marker as he was falling to the ground.

Then from the 9-yard line, Palmer threw a pass that was deflected by Randall, but fell right into the hands of Floyd for a touchdown, giving the Cardinals a 17—13 lead with 3: A few plays into their ensuing drive, Green Bay faced 4th-and-5 on their own yard line.

Arizona was unable to get a first down on their drive, which included an incomplete pass that helped the Packers save some time.

Catanzaro finished the drive with a yard field goal, putting the Cardinals up 20—13, but the team had only managed to run 43 seconds off the clock, 1: Green Bay got the ball back on their own yard line with 1: Two incompletions and a yard sack by Dwight Freeney brought up 4th-and, but Rodgers managed to overcome the situation by launching a yard completion to Janis on the Arizona yard line.

After an incompletion, only five seconds remained in the game. Rodgers, took the snap, ran left and launched a Hail Mary pass to the end zone just before being leveled by linebacker Markus Golden.

Janis then made a leaping catch in the end zone between two defenders for a yard touchdown reception, sending the game into overtime. This was the first game-tying touchdown pass on the last play of regulation in postseason history and the second time that Rodgers threw a Hail Mary touchdown pass at the end of regulation in the season, after the Miracle in Motown.

Palmer completed 25 of 41 passes for yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions. Fitzgerald, who had a single reception for six yards in the first half, caught eight passes for yards and a touchdown, his fifth consecutive yard postseason game.

Brown caught five passes for 82 yards. Rodgers finished the game 24 for 44 for yards with a pair of touchdowns and an interception.

Janis, who caught only two passes during the season, caught seven passes for yards and a pair of touchdowns. Lacy was the top rusher of the game with 89 yards.

The day after the game, the Arizona Republic celebrated the victory by titling the front page Hail Larry. The Panthers jumped out to a 31—0 halftime lead and held off a second half rally from the Seahawks to prevail 31—24 and advance to the NFC Championship for the first time since Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart ran for 59 yards to the Seahawks yard line on the first offensive play of the game, then scored a touchdown from four yards out to give Carolina an early lead.

After forcing a Seahawks punt, Carolina mounted a play, yard drive which featured a yard reception by tight end Greg Olsen and culminated in a Stewart 1-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

Wilson then threw his second interception on the first play of the next drive, this time to Cortland Finnegan on the Seattle yard line, and a Graham Gano yard field goal put Carolina up 24—0.

After a Seahawks three-and-out, Carolina drove 54 yards and scored another touchdown with a Cam Newton yard pass Olsen. Now trailing 31—0, Seattle drove to the Carolina yard line but turned the ball over on downs when Doug Baldwin was tackled a yard short of a first down on 4th-and Seattle had another chance to cut the deficit at the end of the half, but Steven Hauschka missed a yard field goal as time expired.

Seattle got on the board on the first drive of the second half after Tyler Lockett returned the opening kickoff to 50 yards to midfield and Carolina was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty.

Wilson found Jermaine Kearse for a yard touchdown. After forcing a Panthers punt, Seattle drove 63 yards for another touchdown.

Wilson rushed for 14 yards, completed a yard pass to Kearse, and eventually finished the drive with yard scoring pass to Lockett, cutting the deficit to 31— Seattle drove into Carolina territory again on their next drive which included a yard first down run by DeShawn Shead on a fake punt, but Wilson was sacked for a yard loss by Josh Norman and they were unable to score.

On their next drive Wilson completed a yard pass to Lockett that was originally ruled incomplete but overturned on review, then threw another touchdown to Kearse from three yards out to get to within 10 points with 6: Carolina was forced to punt again on their next possession, but Seattle was unable to find the end zone and settled for a yard field goal.

Now trailing by a touchdown with 1: Wilson finished with yards on 31 of 48 passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions, while Newton had yards and one touchdown.

Stewart gained yards on the ground, the first time in 27 games that Seattle had allowed a yard rusher. Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch returned to the lineup after missing eight games but was held to just 20 yards on six carries.

Kearse was the leading receiver with 11 receptions for yards and two touchdowns. Their 31 points was a new Panthers franchise record in a playoff game.

Seattle lost despite outgaining Carolina —72 in total yards during the second half. In a tough defensive struggle in which both teams could only get the ball into the end zone once, Denver pulled ahead by scoring 11 points in the final three minutes of the game.

Despite their excellent starting position, Denver could not get into the end zone and ended up with another McManus field goal to take a 6—0 lead.

Steelers were boom-or-bust on fourth down in divisional loss to Jaguars News: Calais Campbell randomly suggested a score in interview last week News: Jaguars troll Steelers for looking ahead to Patriots Terrell: Roethlisberger looking forward to playing next season NFC divisional round.

Nick Foles completed 77 percent of his passes, and the Eagles defense had a stellar performance which including stopping the Falcons on a fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line to seal the game.

The Vikings had led the Saints at halftime, but New Orleans scored three straight touchdowns. Payton not blaming Williams for missed tackle Video: The Chiefs raced out to a halftime lead, but Marcus Mariota and the Titans stormed back with 19 unanswered points as the Kansas City offense stalled.

Derrick Henry rushed for yards and a touchdown in the win. Andy Reid may not be right coach for Chiefs after latest playoff collapse Wolfe: Titans can no longer be lukewarm on Mike Mularkey Graziano: Alex Smith, Andy Reid, and the questions ahead Wolfe: Mariota, Henry fuel comeback, first Titans playoff win since Teicher: Chiefs add a sad chapter to already dismal playoff history Video: The Monday Night Countdown crew breaks down the game.

Bills defy expectations by ending playoff drought DiRocco: Where will Tyrod Taylor play in ? Playoff loss to Jaguars should end Tyrod Taylor era in Buffalo.

Falcons can soar against Carson Wentz-less Eagles in divisional round Gonzalez: Falcons look up to challenge of being road warriors in Super Bowl quest Video: With season over, Panthers officially up for sale Triplett: To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies?

Why in the world would anyone want to be a referee? Why pass-rushers should worry New England Patriots. The following procedures will be used to break standings ties for postseason playoffs and to determine regular-season schedules.

Tie games count as one-half win and one-half loss for both clubs. If, at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the same division finish with the best won-lost-tied percentage, the following steps will be taken until a champion is determined.

Three or More Clubs: If two clubs remain tied after one or more clubs are eliminated during any step, tie-breaker re-starts at Step One of two-club format.

If three clubs remain tied after a fourth club is eliminated during any step, tie-breaker re-starts at Step One of three-club format. If it is necessary to break ties to determine the two Wild-Card clubs from each conference, the following steps will be taken.

When the first Wild-Card team has been identified, the procedure is repeated to name the second Wild-Card, i. In situations where three or more teams from the same division are involved in the procedure, the original seeding of the teams remains the same for subsequent applications of the tie breaker if the top-ranked team in that division qualifies for a Wild-Card berth.

If ties exist in any grouping except 2 above, such ties shall be broken by strength-of-schedule. If any ties cannot be broken by strength-of-schedule, the divisional or conference tie-breakers, if applicable, shall be applied.

Any ties that still exist shall be broken by a coin flip. Clubs not participating in the playoffs shall select in the first through 20th positions in reverse standings order.

The Super Bowl winner is last and Super Bowl loser is next-to-last. The losers of the Conference Championship games shall select 29th and 30th based on won-lost-tied percentage.

The losers of the Divisional playoff games shall select 25th through 28th based on won-lost-tied percentage. The losers of the Wild Card games shall select 21st through 24th based on won-lost-tied percentage.

Kansas City is ahead of the L. New England is ahead of Houston based on head to head Jets are ahead of Oakland based on strength of victory. New Orleans is ahead of the Los Angeles Rams based on head to head Atlanta is ahead of Washington based on head to head Washington is ahead of Carolina based on head to head Giants are ahead of Tampa Bay based on head to head Tiebreaker Rules The six postseason participants from each conference will be seeded as follows: The division champion with the best record.

The division champion with the second-best record. The division champion with the third-best record. The division champion with the fourth-best record.

The Wild Card club with the best record. The Wild Card club with the second-best record.